StepSpace launches first location in Belfast’s Centre House following £3m investment

Centre House on Belfast’s Chichester Street is set to be the first of a number of locations in the city centre to house StepSpace, an exciting first-of-its-kind office space concept aimed at fast scaling tech companies.

Developed to bridge the gap between co-working office space and the traditional city centre office letting, StepSpace represents an initial committed investment of £3m by Causeway Asset Management.

Offering an alternative to the traditional five or ten year lease, an ongoing membership at StepSpace not only entitles companies to private office space set around a communal core, but also a range of operational and support services.

Flexibility by design means member companies have the opportunity to grow in a fully scalable, modular office environment and can ‘scale up’ without relocating, therefore avoiding property searches and lease negotiations.

In addition, StepSpace provides dedicated business support services for its tenant companies in terms of recruiting talent, signposting of funding and navigating grants, as well as a host of other serviced office facilities and amenities.

Created to serve companies on a rapid growth trajectory, StepSpace is the brainchild of Belfast’s Causeway Asset Management, and forms part of their Future-Fit concept; a user first approach to office development that’s already being rolled out across the Causeway portfolio and as part of the current redevelopment of 56,000 sq ft at Chichester House in the centre of Belfast.

StepSpace has already filled over 50 percent of the 80 desks available in Centre House. Whitespace, headquartered in London and run by successful tech entrepreneur Andrew McCartney, is set to take a 20 desk office from early July, with another local high growth tech company currently finalising a 30 desk membership.

Ann Trueman, manager of StepSpace, commented:

“StepSpace is user led; we can convert a 10-desk office to a 15 or 20-desk office in the space of a weekend to meet the needs of our occupiers. The collaborative core at the heart of the venture gives our members all the benefits of a co-working space, combined with the privacy requirements of a scaling business. This approach allows our members to focus on their own business while also availing of a shared support ecosystem of other companies going through the same journey, at the same time, in the same space.

“Add to that, the fact that there’s no long lease, and that we provide a range of operational and business support, StepSpace is unlike anything that Belfast has seen in the office market to date. We’re offering the best of all worlds for businesses who want to concentrate on what matters, namely growing their business.”

Danielle Hanvey, asset manager at Causeway Asset Management, said:

“At Causeway we’re always looking at the possible future changes of the office market both locally and internationally – we have recognised the need within the Belfast office market for a more flexible, but still high quality office concept for scaling businesses.

“We’re already extremely active in the traditional serviced office market and also have an extensive portfolio of larger single and multi-let buildings across the city. With StepSpace we are responding to a changing market demand with an offering which will assist companies as they grow and we have exciting plans to open more.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the interest in StepSpace, Centre House – 50 percent occupancy pre-launch is a demonstration of the existing demand and bodes well for the future success of the brand.”

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